Disclosed is a magnetic mount for an electronic device, such as a cellular/portable telephone, tablet, book reader, GPS, or the like.
Mounts for electronic devices are known. Some mounts use magnets within the mount, and a separate ferromagnetic plate or other element that attaches to an external part of the electronic device, for example, the back of the device. When the device is placed in the vicinity of the mount with the ferromagnetic plate facing the magnet, the magnetic field of the magnet attracts the ferromagnetic plate and the device attached to the ferromagnetic plate is held to the magnet, and therefore to the mount.
Alternatively, some mounts for electronic devices use cradles that may include side supports and bottom supports, so that the device may be rested on or in fact clamped or otherwise held to the mount by some combination of support arms or legs.
Mounts such as those described above have disadvantages. For example, with the increasing size and weight of electronic devices, cradle style mounts may not have sufficient clamping ability to maintain an electronic device on or in the mount, such as during cornering, acceleration, or deceleration of a vehicle in which the mount is used, or such as on rough roads or other terrain where the vehicle may bounce or lurch.
Similarly, a magnet and a ferromagnetic plate alone may not be enough to maintain an electronic device on the mount. Still further, magnetic style mounts place a ferromagnetic plate on an exterior of the device, and to use the device without the mount, the ferromagnetic plate is exposed. Users typically do not wish to have an exposed ferromagnetic plate, which many consider to be distracting or unsightly. Also, many users of electronic devices such as those described use cases or other coverings for their electronic devices, and do not wish to place a ferromagnetic plate on those cases or coverings, either.